Sofalcone (SU-88), a gastric antiulcer agent in clinical use, is known to induce the expression of Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in gastric epithelium.

Sofalcone (50 μmol/L) significantly enhances HO-1 mRNA and protein expression in both trophoblasts and primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), evidenced by Western blot analyses and comparison with control groups (P<0.05). It also boosts Nrf2 presence in HUVEC nuclear fractions after 6 hours and upregulates NQO1, TXN, and GCLC expression in primary HUVECs dose-dependently over 24 hours. Additionally, Sofalcone markedly reduces sFlt-1 concentrations in culture media and decreases THP-1 monocyte adherence to HUVECs in a dose-dependent manner, underscoring its potential therapeutic implications for vascular health.

Primary HUVECs are seeded at 60?000 cells per well and incubated at 37°C for 14 to 16 hours to allow tube formation. Cells are then cultured in the presence of either TNF-α (10 ng/mL) alone, with both TNF-α (10 ng/mL) and Sofalcone 50 μM, or control media for 8 to 12 hours. Tube formation is assessed, and images are captured using microscope at ×4 magnification.